Serena Williams just wrote the most amazing letter on body positivity

Despite being one of the most talented athletes, um, ever, Serena Williams has battled body-shamming comments her entire career. Apparently winning 23 Grand Slams isn’t enough to silence the petty criticisms. Well, Williams has words for all the haters out there, prolifically written in a open letter to her mother posted on Reddit.

“I was born with this badass body and proud of it.”

In it, she praises her mom for being the strongest woman she knows and admires her newborn daughter for having the same strong body that has helped Williams dominate on the court. And then, she confronts all the terrible rumors she’s had to face throughout the years: “I’ve been called man because I appeared outwardly strong. It has been said that that I use drugs (no, I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage). It has been said I don’t belong in women’s sports—that I belong in men’s—because I look stronger than many other women do. (No, I just work hard and I was born with this badass body and proud of it.)” Preach girl, preach!

“We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: We are women and proud!”

“But Mom,” she continues, “I’m not sure how you did not go off on every single reporter, person, announcer, and quite frankly, hater, who was too ignorant to understand the power of a black woman. I am proud we were able to show them what some women look like. We don’t all look the same. We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: We are women and proud!”